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“I couldn’t have asked for anything more than this. Winning the World Cup is the proudest moment of my life. Thanks to my team-mates. Without them, nothing would have happened. I couldn’t control my tears of joy.”

“I took a quite few decisions tonight, if we hadn’t won I would have been asked quite a few questions: Why no Ashwin, why Sreesanth, why no Yuvraj, why did I bat ahead?! That pushed me and motivated to do well”

“This is unbelievable. The Under-19 World Cup, then the World Twenty20 but this is the most special. For Sachin, for everyone else.”

“Very proud of everyone, especially Mahela who rose up to the occasion and put up a great hundred. When you look at this Indian team anything less than 350 looks less! They deserved this title, the way they played in front of a great crowd.”

“All credit goes to Sachin Tendulkar. We played for him. Beating Australia and Pakistan and now this, its a dream come true.”

“It means the world to me. I have been part of the three World Cups. This is for the nation. Thank you very much, we love you. This cup is for the people. Love you India!”

“This goes out to all the people of India. This is my first World Cup; I can’t ask for more. Tendulkar has carried the burden of nation for 21 years; It was time we carried him. Chak de India!”

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Elton Chigumbura struck a fine hundred but Ireland still overhauled the target•Getty Images

Ireland secured an impressive four-wicket victory against Zimbabwe to highlight their potential for making a mark on the World Cup. Kevin O’Brien guided them home with three balls spare as he struck an unbeaten 62 after adding 99 with Andre Botha (79) to form the backbone of the chase.It meant Elton Chigumbura’s 81-ball 103 went in vain and completed back-to-back warm-up defeats for Zimbabwe who were comprehensively beaten by South Africa in Chennai. They weren’t helped when Ed Rainsford was forced out of the attack after his first delivery when he was struck on the leg by a straight drive, leaving the bulk of their bowling once again in the hands of the spinners. But in the absence of key batsmen Ed Joyce and William Porterfield, Ireland showed fine composure having lost Paul Stirling in the first over.Alex Cusack gave the innings an early foundation with his 47, but at 127 for 4 in the 32nd over Ireland still needed a substantial partnership to overhaul the target. Botha provided the anchor while O’Brien brought the muscle to their fifth-wicket partnership as they kept up with the required rate. O’Brien twice cleared the ropes but lost his partner with 19 needed and Gary Wilson followed to provide a few late nerves until John Mooney helped see Ireland home.Zimbabwe’s top order had struggled, slipping to 12 for 3 and then 100 for 5 as Trent Johnson took 2 for 9 in five overs. Chigumbura and Prosper Utseya added 54 as Ireland used a variety of bowling options and Chigumbura then took charge with the lower order for company. He hit eight fours and three sixes as 90 runs came from the last seven overs, but it still didn’t prove enough.”It was the worst fielding performance we have produced since I took over as coach,” said a disappointed Alan Butcher afterwards. “It was diabolical and unacceptable and I told the players that. We didn’t score enough runs and it was actually a good effort to get so close to victory given how poorly we fielded.”For Chigumbura it was a day of mixed emotions: “I’m pleased to have scored the hundred and to get back to form – hopefully I can carry it on for the rest of the tournament. But we will have to improve as a team and it was very disappointing to field like we did and to lose.”

Scorecard
Hat-trick hero: Rene Farrell is ecstatic after having Danielle Hazell lbw•Getty Images

A hat-trick and five wickets for Rene Farrell set up a tense final day of the one-off Test between Australia and England, with the hosts needing another 169 runs to regain the women’s Ashes. Farrell stormed to 5 for 23 off 17 overs, mixing control and destruction as England fell for 149 in their second innings at Bankstown Oval.That left Australia with a target of 198 and they lost Rachael Haynes (4) before Shelley Nitschke and Sarah Elliott both scored 12 as they guided the side to 1 for 29 at stumps. Farrell, whose stock ball is an inswinger, reduced England to 7 for 95 with her hat-trick, which began with the vital wicket of Charlotte Edwards.Edwards, who scored 114 in the first innings, was again looking comfortable until she was lbw on 28 when attempting to hit across the line. Katherine Brunt played-on and the locals erupted when Danielle Hazell missed a full ball and was caught in front, giving Farrell her hat-trick and fifth wicket.In her previous over Farrell had removed Jenny Gunn, who top scored with 30, and had picked up Caroline Atkins in the second over of the day. “Winning the Twenty20 World Cup last year was a massive highlight but this sits up there very high on the list and I’ll remember it for a long time,” Farrell said.”The girls asked me what I was thinking before the hat-trick and I just said what we had been saying all Test – that’s to take it one ball at a time. I wanted to bowl it nice and straight and make her play and I was lucky to get the lbw. It’s a great feeling now and to also finish with a five-for was nice.”England resumed on 0 for 9 and were soon suffering at 3 for 35. Edwards and Gunn slowly rebuilt the innings during a 57-run stand in 28.1 overs, while Isa Guha (26) and Holly Colvin (21) were even more gritty when they added a crucial 41 for the ninth wicket.While Farrell was outstanding and the conditions have been tough for scoring throughout the match, England were not helped by three run-outs. Australia have not held the trophy since 2005 and face a testing assignment to regain the prize.”It was a very good day for us but there is still a long way to go in this Test match and it will be an even better feeling if we can chase these runs,” Farrell said. “I love celebrating any wicket for Australia and if we can pull this win off tomorrow we’ll be celebrating a great win.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Zaheer Khan sparked India’s resurgence in South Africa with an incisive spell on the second day•AFP

The world’s two best batting line-ups faltered with 18 wickets – a Kingsmead record – falling on a wildly fluctuating second day as India clawed their way back into contention in the series. South Africa seemed to have the contest sewn up when their relentless quicks packed off the Indian tail in a hurry, but the returning Zaheer Khan inspired a comeback that resulted in a priceless 74-run lead before poor strokes from some of the much-decorated names in the Indian batting set up a tantalising third day.

Smart Stats

• Rahul Dravid became the first fielder to take 200 catches in Tests. It was also his 50th catch off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh, only five behind his tally of 55 catches off Anil Kumble. Dravid became the only fielder to take 50 or more catches off two different bowlers in Tests.

• Harbhajan’s four-wicket haul was his 11th in away Tests and his best figures in South Africa.

• South Africa’s total of 131 is their fourth lowest in home Tests since their readmission in 1992. Their lowest ever total at home also came against India in the previous tour in 2006-07 when they were bowled out for 84 at the Wanderers.

• Dale Steyn picked up his 15th five-wicket haul in his 45th Test. It is also his third five-wicket haul against India. Among bowlers to have picked up more than 200 wickets, Steyn’s strike rate of 39.6 is the best.

• 18 wickets fell for a total of 245 runs on day two of the second Test, equalling the record for most wickets in a day in Durban. The previous occasion that 18 wickets fell in a day at Durban was back in 1950 in the match between Australia and South Africa.

• Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid continued their poor run of form at Durban. They average 16.00 and 15.40 from seven and six innings at this ground respectively. VVS Laxman is the best Indian batsman at this venue, with 126 runs at an average of 63.00.

The day promised to be a re-run of Centurion – after India’s batting fails on a damp pitch, the sun comes out on the second day,the pitch eases out and South Africa’s run-machines bat India out of the game. It may well have turned out that way but for the inspired Zaheer, whose relentless hostility when Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma were wasteful with the new ball kept India fighting. There was also a fortuitous Jacques Kallis run-out, an unplayable snorter from Sreesanth that accounted for AB de Villiers, and some outstanding catches – including No. 200 for Rahul Dravid – that combined to hurt South Africa.Many Indian fans associate Durban with the infamous drubbing dished out in 1996, when India were bowled out for 100 and 66 in their two innings, but it hasn’t been the best ground for South Africa either in recent times: they made 138 against Australia in 2008-09, and 133 against England last year, and this time fared even worse, folding for 131.Things were going to plan for South Africa till ten minutes before lunch, by when they had moved to 67 for 2 with their middle-order bulwarks, Hashim Amla and Kallis, building a partnership. Amla punched a ball back towards Ishant, who half-fielded it and unintentionally parried it back onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end, catching Kallis out of his ground. Worse followed for South Africa, when de Villiers was dismissed by a ripper from the hitherto off-colour Sreesanth, bouncing sharply and cutting away to surprise the batsman, who thumbed it to the keeper.Still, there was no need to panic as Amla continued to be in supreme form. His back-foot drives were the stand-out shots in a calming innings, but he missed a straighter one from Harbhajan Singh to be struck in front of middle, for 33. Like most other batsmen in the match, he too failed to convert his start; this was only the seventh time since 1935 that no batsman from either team has made a half-century in the first innings.The last specialist batsman, Ashwell Prince, was troubled by Zaheer’s movement right through his innings. He made an edgy 13 before finally falling to Zaheer, the ball cannoning onto the stumps as he attempted a footwork-free drive.It continued the excellent work Zaheer had done with the new ball. If India were demoralised by their limp batting, Zaheer showed no signs of it. He was accurate, getting the ball to jag around, and frequently mouthing off at the batsmen. He was rewarded with the wicket of Graeme Smith – for the 10th time in 21 international innings – as a leaden-footed prod ended in MS Dhoni’s gloves. Then, a confident Alviro Petersen walked across the stumps, attempting to work the ball to the leg side, but had the misfortune of seeing his bails dislodged as the ball was dragged back from his pads.If Zaheer sparked India to life, the fight was continued by a clutch of spectacular catches, not something always associated with Indian fielding. Dravid flashed across to his left from first slip to pouch a faint edge from Steyn, Cheteshwar Pujara again showed his skill at short leg, stretching to his right to snaffle a prod from Paul Harris, and Harbhajan latched on to a swirler at fine leg to send back Morne Morkel and hasten the end of the South African innings.With the lead in the bag, India’s openers started off positively. Virender Sehwag and M Vijay had put on the match’s biggest partnership – 43 – in the first innings and added 42 in the second, with Sehwag as usual haring away at a run-a-ball. The big threat of Steyn was seen off, and India were effectively 116 for 0 for at that stage.Then came a bunch of bad strokes that allowed South Africa to draw level in the series. First, Sehwag wafted at a wide, length ball to nick to the keeper; then, Dravid went for an on-the-up drive to another wide delivery and gave Boucher his seventh catch of the match. Sachin Tendulkar came out full of aggression, getting off the mark with a punishing slash past point for four, but India’s tormentor Steyn returned to take out Tendulkar who guided the first ball of his spell to third slip. India had lost four wickets for 14, before VVS Laxman and Pujara played out the final hour to ensure there was no more damage.India had lost four wickets early in the morning as well, when Steyn completed his 15th five-wicket haul, and Morkel pitched it up to hassle the tail-enders. South Africa were in total control then, but no one could have foreseen the excitement that followed, which has left the game in balance.

England will savour their Melbourne celebrations after retaining the Ashes with a crushing success, but Andrew Strauss insisted there was still much work to do to reach their ultimate aim of being the No. 1 side in the world. Test victories don’t come much more comprehensive than an innings-and-157-run demolition, yet Strauss was at pains to stress his players won’t see it as mission accomplished.Their first task is to ensure Australia don’t level the series in Sydney, but both Strauss and Andy Flower, the England coach, have repeatedly said that this Ashes series is just another stepping stone in a much longer path for the team towards the summit of the world game. Even little more than an hour after Tim Bresnan removed Ben Hilfenhaus to seal victory at the MCG, Strauss was outlining the challenges ahead.”Our objective was to come out here and win the series,” Strauss said. “We have not achieved that yet. It is reassuring to know the Ashes are going to remain in England for another couple of years, but it will leave a very sour taste in the mouth if we are not able to go on and convert our position into a series win in Sydney. We should enjoy tonight and rightly so, but it is back to square one for Sydney.”In reality the job is a long way off being done,” he added. “This is one series and as a side we have still got a lot of goals we want to achieve. English cricket is not just about winning the Ashes. We have to look forward to the future and get our team up those rankings and to be the world’s number one at some stage. That is the ultimate goal for us and we have to take a lot of small steps on the way to doing that including India next summer is an important step on that way. I get the feeling we can still improve as a side and that is very motivating.”Unlike in 2005, the last time England closed in on becoming the best, the 2010 vintage is a side that should remain together for the foreseeable future with the possible exception of Paul Collingwood. Michael Vaughan’s unit five years ago was broken apart by injuries, which can’t be planned for, but there was also the feeling that Ashes success was an end-game whereas for Strauss the triumphs have come as part of a developing side.There is also an increasing amount of depth in the England squad – Flower has always said it takes a squad to win Test series, not a side – which bodes well for the future. When injuries came post 2005, players who weren’t ready for international cricket such as Liam Plunkett and Sajid Mahmood were thrown in at the deep end. Now Strauss and Flower are able to call on Bresnan and Chris Tremlett, while Steven Finn has already learnt plenty and Ajmal Shahzad is waiting in the wings. When Stuart Broad returns from injury it will be a tough decision who is left out.”I always thought there was a huge amount of talent at our disposal,” Strauss said. “Maybe we didn’t realise quite how much there was. The likes of Tremlett, Shahzad, Bresnan and Trotty. Maybe we did not realise how much talent there was in county cricket. Those guys have stood up and delivered and we feel like there is no reason why we can’t go on and do better things. But if we get away from what has got us here – hard work and sticking to basics – and start patting ourselves on back too much then we are going to go backwards. It is a stark reminder for us that there is a lot more hard work for us to do.”England turned into a laughing stock the last time they were in Australia ended and were whitewashed, then two years later lost a captain and coach on the same day when the relationship between Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores broke down. It was a low ebb, quickly followed by being rolled for 51 in Jamaica, but from then on the climb has been steady, albeit not without the occasional stumble such as Perth or Headingley.However, despite becoming the first England team in 24 years to retain the Ashes down under, Strauss said that as long as he remains an international cricketer he won’t stop striving for better. “While you are still involved with England side, if you are not looking to push forward then there is something wrong there.”

Bangladesh 119 for 5 (Naeem 34*, Rahman 33*) beat Afghanistan 118 (Stanikzai 38*) by five wickets
Scorecard
A jubilant Bangladesh after winning the gold medal•AFP

Bangladesh’s cricketers won their country its first-ever gold medal in the Asian Games by beating Afghanistan in a thrilling final in Guangzhou. In a see-saw match that attracted a crowd of 2000, 19-year-old Shabbir Rahman smashed two sixes in the penultimate over to decisively swing the match Bangladesh’s way and dash Afghan hopes of a gold.A day after upsetting fancied Pakistan in the semi-finals, Afghanistan looked set for a hammering when they slid to 66 for 6 in the 13th over on choosing to bat. Youngsters Asghar Stanikzai (38*) and Shabir Noori (25) then gave Afghanistan’s chances a boost with a stabilising stand that left Bangladesh needing 120 for victory.Bangladesh almost made a mess of what should have been a straightforward chase, losing five wickets, including that of their experienced captain Mohammad Ashraful, for 75. Afghanistan were scenting another famous win but were denied by the pair of allrounder Naeem Islam, who is looking to secure a permanent spot in the Bangladesh side, and Rahman, a legspinner who was part of the squad for this year’s Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. With 19 needed off the final two overs, Bangladesh were the underdogs but they clubbed 17 runs of the 19th over from offspinner Karim Sadiq, who had excellent figures of 2-0-10-2 before that, to transform the game.”I had a good talk with Naeen before the 19th over and we went for it,” Shabbir said. “Luckily, it came good. There was no pressure on me, but I am sure my team-mates in the dressing room were tense.”Ashraful admitted he had given up hope towards the end. “I was feeling a bit low but then Shabbir came and did the job for us,” he said. “There was a bit of pressure because Afghanistan are a very good side and this was our first major final.”Cricket has been Bangladesh’s most productive sporting discipline at the Asian Games so far – besides the men’s gold, they have won silver in the women’s competition. They have only one other medal in the Asian Games so far, a bronze in kabaddi.

Even when Nathan Hauritz is being helped it feels like he’s getting hurt. After his struggles in India he needs lots of overs in home comforts. It’s easy to think he’ll get that when he plays for New South Wales against Queensland in the Sheffield Shield from Sunday. Except the game is at the Gabba.For Shield matches the ground is often a place where state spin bowlers operate as waiters for the fast men. If that happens to Hauritz he’ll be wishing he’s with the one-day squad, where he’s almost guaranteed 60 balls a game, instead of waiting to join it for the final two matches of the Sri Lanka series.Brisbane, of course, is the venue for the first Ashes Test so if he gets a decent chance he can attempt to persuade the selectors that four fast men plus Marcus North’s offspin is not the way to go against England. It’s a big if. Steve O’Keefe is doing well for the Blues and last summer the Gabba hosted a total of 200 overs of spin in five Shield encounters. In three of those games all the slow men from both sides combined for fewer than 27 overs.Hauritz’s first-class appointment also allows an international trial for Xavier Doherty, a teasing left-arm orthodox from Tasmania. Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, wants to take two spinners to the subcontinent for the World Cup early next year and thinks someone of Doherty’s style would be ideal. Which makes it strange that Doherty wasn’t on the just finished trip to India.Doherty is suddenly a contender for the World Cup and Hauritz’s spot, while Steve Smith, the batsman-legspinner, is also in the one-day squad. Despite the rise of the fresh men, the shuffling of Hauritz seems unhelpful, especially as he is a player who requires more support than a typical international.Still, juggling the demands of the players so close to the Ashes is tricky. The Test batsmen Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke will be involved in the limited-overs campaign, while Marcus North captains Western Australia and Simon Katich hopes to recover from a broken thumb.Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle will warm-up for the main event with short one-day spells next week; Ben Hilfenhaus is not involved in the series but is currently playing alongside Doherty at the MCG. Doug Bollinger will use the time to recover from the stomach injury that stopped him during the first Test against India.The allrounder Watson said it was important for all the members of the attack to get some decent overs in before the Ashes. “As a bowler the best way to get into a good groove is to be out there in the middle,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “No matter how much training you do, it’s never the same as getting out there. It’s a perfect preparation for all the bowlers to be able to get out there.”Watson is happy with the schedule after being rested from the one-day segment of the India tour, along with Ponting and Johnson. “In the end it’s what we’ve got in front of us,” he said. “It’s not a bad thing at all to be playing these [one-day] games.” When the first one is on Hauritz will be with his state side at the Gabba.

India have omitted Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma from the second Test in Bangalore following injuries to their right knees. The squad for that Test, announced hours after the win against Australia in Mohali, includes Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund and Saurashtra quick bowler Jaidev Unadkat, both of whom are uncapped, as replacements.Mukund, 20, has been a consistent performer in domestic first-class matches since his debut in late 2007. He has nine centuries in 29 matches, and an average of 55.88, and his career highlights include an unbeaten triple-century against Maharashtra in 2008 and a 257 against Hyderabad last season.Unadkat, 18, has been promoted despite not having played a Ranji Trophy match. He first came into the spotlight when his Kolkata Knight Riders bowling coach Wasim Akram endorsed his talent ahead of the 2010 IPL season. Though Unadkat did not make much of an impression in the IPL, he made the cut for India A’s tour of England. He impressed with a 13-wicket haul at Grace Road on first-class debut against West Indies A. He was included in the Rest of India squad for the Irani Trophy game against Mumbai that coincided with the first Test, and he returned figures of 4 for 41 in the first innings to put his name firmly in the selectors’ radar.The youngsters get their chance due to the injuries to two of India’s first-choice players. Ishant had been off the field for much of the first innings due to his injury but returned to play a crucial role in India’s heart-stopping win in the first Test in Mohali. On Monday, he took three quick top-order wickets to deflate Australia’s strong start and on Tuesday he stoutly hung on for a career-best 32 – and a match-turning 81-run stand for the ninth wicket with VVS Laxman.Gambhir, who scored 25 and 0 in the first Test, was hit in the knee while fielding at short leg on Monday when he was trying to take evasive action to save himself from a Michael Hussey sweep off Pragyan Ojha.

It seems absurd that Andrew Strauss’s place in England’s one-day line-up was being debated on the day he struck 126 to set-up a 2-0 series lead against Pakistan, but during the lunch interval of the second one-day international a panel of experts on TV selected their World Cup squads and Strauss wasn’t in the 15.Neither, for that matter, was Jonathan Trott, who is England’s in-form batsman of the moment in all formats and added 146 with Strauss at Headingley. But it was the absence of the current captain that provoked debate as he notched up his fifth one-day international hundred and second in three matches. The panel’s reasoning behind Strauss’s omission is his lack of runs straight down the ground and how he will adapt on the slower pitches in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.Yet since returning to the one-day side in early 2009 – at that time because there was no other choice following the messy end to Kevin Pietersen’s captaincy stint – Strauss has averaged 42.03 in 32 matches compared to a career mark of 35.06. He knows he will be the man leading England at the World Cup and the numbers back up that decision.”All I can do is do my talking with the bat and help England to win cricket matches,” he said. “Other people can talk as much as they like, it’s pretty irrelevant to me. I’ve worked very hard on trying to expand my game and it’s important I can lead by example. I’ve been in good form all summer and that helps because things tend to come a bit more naturally. I’m very happy with my game and even more happy that we are continuing to win.”However, his innings wasn’t without two moments of good fortune and Pakistan were convinced he’d been caught behind on 38 when Umar Gul nipped one back off the seam. Kamran Akmal held a fine catch but Billy Doctove turned down the appeal and a few words were exchanged between batsman and bowler. It led to Shahid Afridi calling for the introduction of the umpire review system for major one-day series.”Definitely it would be good in matches like this and in big series like this,” he said. “It is important that it’s in cricket now. I know in Twenty20 you don’t have much time but in one-dayers you would.”But on this occasion it wasn’t a clear-cut decision even on replays so the UDRS may not have even overturned the on-field call and Strauss was very content about standing his ground. “I wasn’t sure if it had hit my glove,” he said. “Nothing has changed in cricket, the umpires are there to make a decision and they did that.”Strauss was given a much more obvious life on 23 when Mohammad Irfan, the seven-foot pace bowler, couldn’t take a simple catch at short fine-leg. Irfan later limped off with cramp for the second match running and Afridi was far from impressed with his new recruit.”I’m really disappointed with this guy,” he said. “Cricket is not all about just batting and bowling, fielding is very important and maybe if he’s good in the field I will give him a chance otherwise I’m not happy.”However, Pakistan don’t have many other pace options in their squad. Wahab Riaz would be a controversial selection considering his links to the ongoing spot-betting allegations while Abdul Razzaq, who has been left out of the opening two matches, is due to undergo an MRI scan on his troublesome back in the next few days.

Match Facts

Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Start time 14.30 (0900 GMT)Yuvraj Singh, who showed glimpses of form against Sri Lanka, will be crucial to India’s cause•Cameraworx/Live Images

Big Picture

The word most conspicuously absent in all press conferences this tournament is ‘momentum’. The schizophrenic performances of all three teams in Dambulla – crushing opponents one day, and being crushed themselves the next – has meant no team could claim whatever advantage momentum allegedly provides. The topsy-turvy league phase reaches its conclusion on Wednesday when India and New Zealand face off in an elimination match.
New Zealand’s inexperienced batting line-up remains their biggest concern. The relaxed format of the tournament and the unseasonal rain which washed out their match against Sri Lanka means their batsmen have, amazingly, not had a bat in the middle for a dozen days, which the captain Ross Taylor said is “going to give a little more anxiety than the actual game itself.”MS Dhoni’s captaincy record of winning every tournament in Sri Lanka is also under threat after India’s batting failures in two matches. One heartening factor for Dhoni is the glimpses of form Yuvraj Singh showed during Sunday’s humiliating defeat. India have alternated between wins and losses in the previous six matches, a trend which Dhoni will hope extends for one more game.

Form guide

(most recent first)
India: LWLWL
New Zealand: LWWLL

Watch out for…

Scott Styris is enjoying a run-filled year and his 168 one-day caps will be essential to a batting unit light in international exposure. He has found the conditions in Dambulla helpful to his steady bowling, finishing with 2 for 36 in ten overs in the previous match.
MS Dhoni is the top-ranked one-day batsman in the world, but has been part of two shambolic Indian collapses. With some of the youngsters in the middle order finding it hard to adjust to the seaming pitches in the tournament, the team is looking to their captain to deliver.

Team news

New Zealand welcome Martin Guptill back at the top of the order after missing a game due to injury, but Jacob Oram is headed back to New Zealand as a result of an injured knee that has not responded to treatment and is affecting his ability to bowl. A possible replacement could be left-arm seamer Andy McKay. Their other fitness concern is Kane Williamson, who has a bicep injury and couldn’t bowl or throw on Monday.
New Zealand (probable): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 BJ Watling, 3 Ross Taylor (capt), 4 Kane Williamson/ Peter Ingram, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Grant Elliott, 7 Gareth Hopkins (wk), 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Daryl Tuffey, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Andy McKayIndia had no injury worries on the eve of the match. Despite the pummeling against Sri Lanka, it’s unlikely there will be too many changes to the side. Again, the decision will be on whether to bring in Virat Kohli at the expense of either Dinesh Karthik or Rohit Sharma.India (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Dinesh Karthik, 3 Rohit Sharma/Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Pragyan Ojha, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashish Nehra

Pitch and conditions

A fresh pitch will be used for the match but MS Dhoni, who inspected the pitch after the Indian net session, expected it to behave similar to the ones used earlier in the tournament. “Initially, there will be a bit of help for the seamers. During the daytime, they can swing the ball with the breeze. And under the lights, it always swings here.”
Of as much interest is the weather. It was cloudy on Tuesday and drizzled in the morning, and light rain is predicted for Wednesday. Taylor has shown a preference to chase if there is a chance of the D/L method needing to be applied, but could stick with the bat-first policy captains have traditionally favoured in Dambulla day-nighters if the skies are clear.

Quotes

“It’s just a game of cricket and every game you play you play to win, we don’t want to put any more pressure on ourselves and that’s the attitude we’ll be going with.”

“We just have to be careful not to fish at the ball. Rather we will have to just leave or play a shot.”